CEO and Chairman of Dole Seeking to take Company Private

David Murdock the Chairman and CEO of Dole Food Company and his family offered to purchase the fresh vegetable and fruit company on Tuesday. They offered a bid for the company that placed its value at just over $1 billion.

The California-based company said the board of directors has scheduled to meet for a number of days if necessary to assess the recent offer that came to them unsolicited.

Murdock and family members offered to purchase the remaining outstanding shares of stock that they do not own at $12 per share.

Currently Murdock and his family own 39.5% of the stock at Dole. At present, the company has a total amount of outstanding shares of nearly 89.5 million.

The price Murdock offered Dole represents an 18% premium over the stock price for Dole as of the close of business on Monday. The stock for Dole traded on Tuesday above the price that was offered by Murdock, which has analysts suggesting that some shareholders could feel the offer from Murdock could increase.

Last month Dole said, it would suspend its repurchase program for stock that was valued at $200 million and use cash on hand to update the shipping fleet in an attempt to help with its growth aspects.

On Tuesday, Dole stock closed with a price of $12.46, which was an increase of more than 22% from Monday.